Photo/Illutration U.S. military personnel walk in a nightlife district near the U.S. Marine Corps Camp Hansen in Kin, Okinawa Prefecture, on Dec. 24. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The U.S. military in Japan is out of the reach of the Japanese government as well as local administrative entities.

One of the incidents that brought this fact home was the crash of a U.S. military helicopter at Okinawa International University in 2004.

The chopper crashed into the university’s main building and burst into flames. Local firefighters scrambled to the site, but after they put the fire out, they were forced out of the scene.

The U.S. military cordoned off the campus with yellow tape, denying on-site inspections by not only the fire department but also the police force.

Pizza delivery men were among the few Japanese individuals allowed inside the cordon.

It was the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which recognizes special privileges to U.S. forces, that allowed this absurdity.

It now appears that the agreement has provided a loophole for the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus.

The Japanese government has tightened immigration control measures for a little more than a month by suspending new arrivals of foreigners.

But since the SOFA exempts U.S. military personnel from the rules, those from the U.S. mainland are free to enter U.S. bases in Japan.

Cluster infections broke out at a U.S. base in December.

The Okinawa prefectural government’s request to the U.S. military to check if the infections were due to the Omicron variant was denied on grounds of protection of privacy.

Before long, infections began spreading around the prefecture, leaving the Japanese government no other choice but to consider pre-emergency measures.

The purpose of immigration control is to buy time to prepare the health care system for an increase in infections, among other things.

If there are areas beyond government control, that clearly reveals a flaw in the quarantine system, and the impact will be felt most severely in communities that host U.S. bases.

As pointed out by Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, this is a “systemic problem.”

But neither Tokyo nor Washington has shown any signs of trying to tackle the problem head-on.

I wonder if Japanese and U.S. authorities have sealed off the issue with yellow tape in their heads.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 6

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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